Over the years we have found that many alarm owners (customers from all alarm companies, not just APX Alarm)  simply don’t arm their system the majority of the time.  Not only are you not getting the full value out of the system when you’re not arming it,  but you’re also not receiving the full protection. We’ve narrowed down the reasons to 6 categories:

1. Someone is always home.

2. We forget!

3. We don’t know how to use it!

4. We only set my alarm on long trips.

5. We’re worried about false alarms.

6. We have a dog.

Reason Number One:  Someone is always home

I hear this a lot; both as an excuse for not having an alarm, AND as a reason for not arming the one that is currently installed.  And I agree, it is helpful to have someone at home. I felt the same way up until about two years ago.  To illustrate my point I would like to share a personal experience in the matter.

My Experience

About two years ago, I was living in an apartment with several of my friends.  We had a great location, and we had great neighbors, and we felt safe.  I came home at about 10:30, made myself a sandwich and chatted with my roommates. One of our roommates was still out on a date and had not returned yet.  I went into my bedroom at about 10:45. My door was open and I was talking with my roommates until, at 11:30, our final roommate came home, and locked the door behind him.   I then went to bed.  In the morning, I was awakened to the sound of one of my roommates banging on my door.  His Xbox had been stolen, along with several of my games.  After notifying the police of the situation, they explained to us that there had been a string of burglaries in the area, and that the thief was going into homes when people were at home, and stealing right out from under them.   Our bedrooms were less than 10 feet from the living room. This means that the thief walked into our house, unhooked the Xbox and took all of our games, controllers, and peripherals, while were were less than 10 feet away talking to each other. He did this after I got home, and before or roommate came in and locked the door for the evening.

What I learned

What did I learn from this? A burglar that is bent on stealing something really doesn’t care if you are home or not.  There were a lot of  “what if’s” and “if only’s” after we realized that we had been victimized while we were at home.  If we had an alarm system I would probably still have my Xbox games.

And I’m not the only one who was victimized while at home. The Parker Family also had a similar experience when a man burst in through their back door as they were watching TV.

Having an alarm system in your home is paramount, regardless of whether or not your family is home.

I just got out of a meeting about the new APX Alarm Go!Control Panel and I learned some exciting things I wanted to pass on to all of you.

Alarm systems have always been about blaring sirens and monitoring stations watching out and calling you if there is a problem.  But what about the little things? The stuff that you don’t need a phone call from the monitoring station over, or a visit from the police.  These things are why we will have Non-Alarm Events.

Lets say that you have a liquor cabinet in your house that you (obviously) don’t want your children getting into. You can put a sensor on that cabinet (perhaps a recessed sensor) and whenever that cabinet is opened you will get a text message saying what has happened. Then you can call and ask Timmy what exactly he is doing with your bottle of Jack.

Or maybe you have an elderly parent that is not quite ready to give up their independent lifestyle, and you want to check up on them without being obtrusive.  You can have a motion sensor installed in the living room, and set a notification to be sent to your phone if nothing moves in front of that motion sensor by say,  9 am.  Maybe Mom is just sleeping late, or maybe she has fallen. If nothing passes in front of the sensor you will get a text message telling you that you should give Mom a call and see if she is okay.

I was astounded by these new features. I mean, it is such a small thing, but it resonated strongly with me. What a great way to protect yourself and those whom you love. This functionality is provided through Alarm.com, so that means that you will also be able to control these features from any computer or cell phone with internet access.

photo by husin.sani

Email, Facebook, Twitter, online banking–we have so many online accounts these days, we have more passwords than fingers. So how do we juggle them all safely?

Here are 10 password safety tips from Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. at the Cyberbullying Research Center:

1. Never, ever give your password (on Facebook, MySpace, World of WarCraft, the Playstation Network, email, or any similar service) or cell phone unlock code to a friend. Friendships sometimes don’t last, and that password or PIN can be used against you.

2. Remember your secret answer. When you create an online account, and it asks you to provide an accurate answer to a question you should know ‐ don’t treat it lightly or as a joke. Make sure it’s something you will remember months and years from now in case you have a problem at that time.

3. Do not use passwords based on personal information (your login name, birthdate, address, phone number, middle name, pet’s name, etc.).

4. Use a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and nonalphabetic characters (symbols) if possible.

5. Change your password often. It takes time and is a bit of a chore, but do it anyway. It takes more time and is more of a chore to try to recover from a hacked account or from identity theft.

6. Never provide your password over email or in response to an email request.

7. Make your own acronym by creating a phrase that means something to you, and group together the first letter of each word. Use numbers and symbols when you can. Make sure the acronym you create is at least seven characters. For example:

• Last week I fell down thirty stairs. (Lw1fd30$)
• It’s 3am, I must be lonely. (I3amimbL)
• My boyfriend got me a dog for Christmas. (mBFgm@d4C)
• Use short words separated by characters (d0g%d00r, c@ndystr1p).

8. Do not place a written copy of your password on the side of your monitor, under your keyboard, under your mousepad, etc. Figure out a secure place where you can store the passwords you write down – or, if possible – never write down any passwords; it is best to commit them to memory.

9. Do not type passwords on computers that you do not own, control, or fully trust. Computers in Internet cafés, computer labs, airports, libraries, or similar public places should only be used for anonymous Web browsing, and not for logging into your online accounts.

10. Don’t use the same password across all of the online accounts you have. Try to use different passwords at different sites, so that one hacked account doesn’t lead to other accounts being hacked.

So, in summation, passwords are like underwear:

It’s Monday again, that means the second installment of the APX Alarm Safety Fail. If you missed last weeks, take a look at it here.

Just to test everyone’s reasoning, we’re going to have a little multiple choice test today:

1. Surfing on your vehicle is a good idea when:

a. The beach is closed and you really need to surf man!

b. Your friend got a nifty new camera and needs to try it out by filming you doing something stupid.

c. You work for the city and have been hired to relocate a fire hydrant with your truck

d. Never.

Yesterday’s post discussed three common ways cyberbullies attack their victims. But how can you recognize when someone you know might be dealing with a cyberbully?

If someone you know, who usually spends a lot of time on their computer or texting, suddenly withdraws from technology, this could be a sign that they are being cyberbullied. Are they avoiding social media sites like Facebook when they used to be addicted to Farmville? Have they abandoned their cell phone when it used to be stapled to their hand? Is their World of Warcraft headset suddenly collecting dust? They might be trying to avoid a cyberbully.

Sometimes students will skip classes or ditch school entirely because of the embarrassment or intimidation from a cyberbully, so if someone you know is avoiding classmates, letting his grades slip and acting moodier than usual, these could also be signs.

So what should you do if a cyberbully is harassing you? Stopcyberbullying.org says to “Stop, block and tell!”

STOP!

Don’t respond. Bullies are looking to push your buttons, and they feed off of getting you to react. If you fire back with a heated response, you could make the situation even worse and get accused of cyberbullying as well. Try taking a few minutes away from the technology to cool down and clear your head. You could go for a jog, put on your favorite music, or get together with a good friend—anything to keep you from doing something out of anger or hurt that you might regret later.

Block!

On social networking sites like Facebook, you can click on “Privacy Settings” under “Account” in the upper right hand corner of your screen, and block the cyberbully. You can also call your cell phone service provider and ask them to block texts and calls from that person’s number.

Tell!

Confide in someone you trust, and let them know about your situation. You shouldn’t have to go through it alone.

You can report cyberbullying to:

• The bully’s parents

• The police

• Their school

• Your Internet Service Provider or the website they are using to harass you

• Your cell phone service provider

• Wiredsafety.org

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has excellent recommendations for what you can do if you are receiving harassing text messages.

Cyberbullying Research Center has wonderful resources for parents:

***How parents can prevent cyberbullying

***How parents can respond to cyberbullying

Being trapped in a cyberbullying situation can sometimes seem hopeless, but you are not alone. There are many people and services available to take action on your behalf. If enough people take a stand against cyberbullies, they will get the message it will not be tolerated, and they will be forced to face the consequences of using technology to harass and intimidate others.

Photos by melanieorourke and mikebaird.

Last week I interviewed several APX Alarm employees, asking them “What is cyberbullying?” Some of the most common responses were:

• What?
• Ummm…
• I have no idea.
• Cyberwhat?

Because of the advances in technology over the last few years, cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon. The age of schoolyard wedgies, swirlies and locker-stuffing has come and gone. The bullies in today’s technology-immersed generation are more daunting and even harder to escape.

According to STOPcyberbullying.org, cyberbullying is when a minor is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another minor using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.

Here are three common ways cyberbullies target people:

1. Web “Hate Pages” and Online Polls

“Who is the ugliest girl in school??? Click here to vote!”

Imagine stumbling upon this web page and finding a picture of yourself (captured at your most unflattering moment, of course) with floods of comments from the classmates you have to see face-to-face every day in the hall.

“Jane Jones is the biggest skank at West High School! Check out these pics!”

Maybe Jane was just joking around with some girlfriends and took some racy photos she never expected anyone to see. Now she has to endure the stares of everyone at school.

2. Hate Messages

Cyberbullies can harass someone with hateful or threatening messages through:

• Email
• Texts
• Online gaming
• Instant messaging
• Social media sites like Facebook and MySpace

Sometimes a “cybermob” assaults someone through a “text war” when a group gangs up on their victim by sending hundreds of hateful text messages to their phone. This can rack up an enormous bill they can’t pay and sometimes results in losing their cell phone service.

3. Hacking and Impersonation

“Dear Ms. Jones, we are urging all of our Facebook users to install this update tool as soon as possible for better security. Please click on this link, log in and install the security update for your account. –The Facebook Team”

• What Ms. Jones doesn’t know is that she will be logging into a phishing site that will steal her login and password information, and the ‘update tool” is actually a virus that will steal her personal information, download additional malware files, and send spam through her computer.
• Cyberbullies also gain access to someone’s login and password information on Facebook, MySpace, etc. in order to lock them out of their own account and use their identity to post and send hateful or embarrassing messages to other people, causing even more people to harass them.
• Another way cyberbullies fool people is by impersonating people they know through instant messaging and the chat feature on social networking sites like Facebook. (Here are 8 things you should never post!) So, if your cousin Jake IM’s you asking for an emergency money wire because of a horrible accident, give him a call to confirm the situation is legitimate and that it’s really Jake.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. STOPcyberbullying.org has great information on the different ways cyberbullies attack. In Part 2, I’ll share some tips on how to prevent these attacks and also how to respond if you or someone you know is being harassed by a cyberbully. My hope is, as awareness and education spreads, our generation will be better equipped to prevent and respond to those who would use technology to harm or intimidate others.

As promised, this is part two of the Carbon Monoxide series.  The previous post was all about Carbon Monoxide (CO) itself, including how to recognize the symptoms of CO poisoning, and preventing the causes of CO buildup in your home. Today I want to focus mainly on the APX Alarm monitored CO detector.

Having a CO detector in your home is crucial to your family’s safety

You can find a CO detector at your local hardware store or supermarket, and they will function well. However,  a monitored Carbon Monoxide detector will cost you the same amount and you’ll have the added protection of knowing that someone will be able to help you within seconds of that detector being tripped.  In most cases of fatal CO poisoning, the victims knew that something was wrong, but they were too confused and disoriented to do something about it. Add grogginess from sleep into that mix and you’ve got yourself a problem.  That is where APX Alarm can come in and give you some added peace of mind.

• Having a CO detector added to you system will not increase your monthly rate.

• The APX Alarm CO detector is an electrochemical unit. This means that when CO is in a high enough concentration within the unit, an electrical current is able to pass between contacts, tripping the alarm and triggering the siren.

• The APX Alarm CO detector is created to last for 5 years. After that time the unit will need to be replaced.

• When the battery on the sensor gets low (it has around a 5 year battery life) the sensor will chirp just like your current smoke detectors do when their battery is low.

• The CO detector has both a local siren (one on the unit itself) as well as the siren from the panel.

• The CO detector only detects CO levels at the sensor itself, so you’ll want to have it in an area that is close to where you are. Your APX Technician has been trained on the placement of these sensors and can provide information on the best location for placement.

• Once the sensor has been tripped, it sends a signal to the panel every 20 seconds letting the panel know if there is still CO in the area.  The alarm will stop sounding once the area has been cleared of the gas.

• The CO detector is just that, a CO detector.  It does not detect heat , smoke, flames, or combustible gas (i.e. propane, butane, natural gas) although those gases are often accompanied by CO.

It is important to note that while having a Carbon Monoxide detector is important,  there is no substitution for having your heating system, water heater, and any other coal, oil, or  gas burning appliances checked out seasonally to make sure they are operating properly.

If you would like to get a monitored CO detector added to your APX Alarm system, give customer support (1-800-216-5232) a call and they will take care of you!

I found this article, published by the University of Utah, particularly helpful when creating this post.

We’re starting a new column here at the APX Alarm Blog. Each week we’ll bring you the best Safety Fails that the internet has to offer.

This week I  wanted to share this gem with you:

Daddy needs to get Ralphie to go to the store with him. But Mommy has the car. Hmmm, will Ralphie fit into Daddy’s back pack? ….No. What about strapping Ralphie’s favorite chair to the back of Daddy’s bike? Genius! An effective and stylish option. Hold on tight Ralphie!

At least he has a helmet.

Here’s your Sign.

Chances are, when your APX Alarm system was installed, the technician put a sign out in front of your yard. This is one of the best ways to add a little more protection to your home. While the sign is an advertisement for us, it is also a warning for would-be thieves and vandals: “If you mess with my house, you’ll be caught.” This is exactly the type of message you want to send.  When a burglar is in your neighborhood, and he sees a row of houses, is he going to go for the one that has a warning in front of it? No. A burglar wants to go for a house that is going to provide him with the least amount of resistance.

For all of our customers, the lighted sign is free.

Will a sign alone prevent thieves?

Having a lighted sign is a great step to preventing break-ins, however it is not enough.   A lighted sign is very helpful in deterring crimes of opportunity, but sometimes a home break-in is done by someone who has been watching your home for some period of time.  If a burglar is determined to break into you home, a sign is not enough. That is where an Alarm System comes in.  If the burglar decides to take the next step and try to enter your home uninvited, the Alarm System will notify you AND the authorities.

Together, a lighted sign and a Security System will help prevent any type of unwanted entry into your home.

Carbon Monoxide has been on my mind for a few weeks now.  I caught a news story about a couple of young men (missionaries for the LDS church) who were asphyxiated by Carbon Monoxide in their apartment in Romania. This really stuck with me.  It seems like every year or so I get wind of a tragedy involving Carbon Monoxide, and it can be remedied by something as simple as a CO detector, and a little bit of awareness.   Today, I wanted to take the time to inform you about CO itself,  and next week I’ll  follow-up post about the APX Alarm CO Detector.

What you should know:

• Carbon Monoxide is a byproduct of incomplete combustion. It is produced by faulty furnaces, stoves, portable generators, etc.  Anything that burns fuel (wood, coal, natural gas, gasoline, etc.) will create CO.  The harm comes when it is in an enclosed area, or when there is inadequate ventilation.  The classic example being running your car with the garage door closed. CO will build up very quickly in that type of situation.

• Carbon Monoxide is odorless, tasteless, colorless gas.  This means that you cannot detect it with any of your five senses.

• Carbon Monoxide is a cumulative poison. This means that the more CO you have inside you, the more sick you become. So you don’t actually have to die – although we often think of death being the main result of contact with CO – to feel the effects of CO poisoning. Other non-fatal symptoms can be quite unpleasant, including:

Mild Exposure:

Slight headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue (“flu like symptoms”).

Medium Exposure:

Severe throbbing headache, drowsiness, confusion, fast heart rate.

Heavy Exposure:

Unconsciousness, convulsions, cardiorespiratory failure, death.

• Most reported cases of fatal CO poisoning involve people who realized they were not well, but they were so disoriented and confused that they were not able to exit the building or call for help.

• Even low levels of CO have been shown to cause vital organ damage in unborn children, while having no effect on the mother.

Having a CO detector is the best way to protect your home from this gas.

The best way to protect yourself is to purchase a CO detector. This can be done at low cost from a hardware store, or you can purchase a monitored CO detector. These sensors are a cheap way to keep your loved ones safe.